Did A Badly Written Law Cause This Crash Between Two Buses?

New Jersey DOT officials have yet to comment

Did a badly written law contribute to a collision between two buses on a New Jersey road last month? Police investigating the dramatic crash in the video above believe so.

The accident took place in along Route 9 in Old Bridge, New Jersey on Jan. 10. As you'll see in the video, a bus traveling straight in a "Bus Only" lane on the far right side of the road collides with a school bus that turned right out of the "regular" right lane.

Old Bridge police tell ABC-TV that the New Jersey Department of Transportation did such a bad job writing a law that sets the parameters for bus-lane use that more accidents like this are bound to happen.

The potential problems start with the fact the bus lane doubles as the road's shoulder. A sign lets motorists know that it is active as the bus lane between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. But even before the crash, you can see a forgetful driver in a white crossover nearly pull out of a parking lot into the bus's path.

Old Bridge police say the law does not specify which kind of buses can use the lane – school, private or transit only, that it neglects to specify how drivers in the "regular" right lane should treat the solid white line to their right, and that the 55-mph speed limit is much too high.

In this case, the driver of the Academy Bus received a summons for causing the accident, but not the school bus driver who vacated his lane. A spokesperson for the Academy Bus Company says the company will fight the summons.

No children were on the school bus at the time of the crash. Two people in the Academy Bus, including the driver, were injured.

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